Lineman&#39;s device.



VAN BUREN JACKSON.

LINEMANS DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.24,1916.

Patented Apr. 24, 1917.

WTE %A% A IE.

VAN BUREN JACKSON, OFPEDRO MIGUEL, CANAL ZONE, ASSIGNOR T0 SAN DIEGO CON- SOLIDATED GAS AND ELECTRIC 00., OF SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

LINEMAN DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 24, 1916. Serial No. 93,101.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VAN BUREN JACKSON, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Pedro Miguel, Canal Zone, Panama, Central America, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Linemens Devices, of which the following is a specification. This invention relates to appliances such as are used by linemen for making a connection or tap from a high line wire while the current is flowing through it.

Such a connection is usually effected by twisting a tap wire about the main and soldering to form a connection to lead the current off from the line. Acccrding to my invention I provide a novel clamp, one of the novel features of which is that it is open upon its side. The operation of making the connection consists substantially in securing the tap wire in the clamp and raising the clamp to the height of the line wire, then moving the clamp laterally onto the line wire, and securing the clamp to the wire.

A principal object of this invention is to provide simple and efficient devices for effecting such a connection, and which can be readily handled and operated without danger to the lineman. My novel clamp is preferably provided with a screw for securing it to the line wire; and one of the objects of the invention is to provide simple means For operating this screw from a point well below the line wires where the linemen will. be subjected to no risk of touching adjacent wires. A further object is to provide the device with simple means for holding the clamp and for protecting it from becoming dislodged but operatmg in such a way as to permit the device to be readily freed from the clamp after it has been attached to the line wire.

Further objects of the invention will appear hereinafter.

In the drawing, which illustrates one em .bodiment of my invention,

Figure 1 is a perspective indicating how the device is used in practice.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation and partial section of the upper part of the device.

Fig. 3 is a perspective showing a connection or tap such as may be effected by employing my devices.

The purposes and functions of my devices will be better appreciated if the general purposes and construction of my attaching clamp are first described. This clamp is a double clamp of simple construction-comprising clamping means for holding the" drop wire, that is the tap wire, and clamping means forsecuring the clamp to the line wire.

My holder device affords means for hold-- ing this clamp so that the same can be raised,

' elongated body with a bore or socket 2 to receive the tap wire 3 which may if desired be permanently held in the socket by any means desired, for example, set screws 4. This clamp is openits full length on oneside so as to form a channel between two fixed jaws 7 and 7 to enable the clamp to be applied to the line wire 5 by a lateral movement toward the wire. In order to enable the holding device to hold the clamp in applying it to the wire the outer sides of the jaws 7 and 7 b are preferably flat and substantially parallel to each other, which enables them to coiiperate with a holder of simple form.

One of the fixed jaws is provided with means capable of interlocking with an actuating device on the clamp holder so that when actuated it will secure the clamp to the line wire. For this purpose I prefer to provide a movable jaw or clamping plate '2' which extends longitudinally in the channel and is pressed forward by a set screw 6 whichis attached in one of the fixed jaws, and screws toward the other fixed jaw. This set screw has a head of a form that enables it to interlock with an actuating device operable from a point remote from the line wire.

My holder device preferably comprises a head 8 supported upon an insulating handle 9 preferably in the form of a bar of wood of suitable length.

The'head 8 is preferably provided with means correlated to the clamp in form for yieldingly holding the clamp. This means is preferably in the form of resilient aws 10, and 11 which may be formed of bent spring plate. These jaws preferably project laterally from an integral connecting resilientbow 12 and they also preferably converge slightly, one of the jaws, for example, jaw 10, being provided with an inwardly convex bill 13 which approaches the opposite jaw in such a way that a throat of reduced width is formed between the jaws. Evidently, the clamp 1 may be moved laterally through the throat so as to be yieldingly held between the jaws.

In order to protect the jaws 10 and 11 from being struck or bent accidentally, I prefer to provide rigid members 14 in the form of jaws in which 'the yielding jaws lie. The members 14 preferably form integral forks extending up from the head. By means of the bar 9 and the head 8 the clamp may be supported and applied to the line wire.

The handle or bar 9 is preferably provided with means for operating a movable part of the clamp (such as screw (3) from a safe point remote from the line wire in order to secure the clamp to the line wire. For this purpose I prefer to provide a movable part carried by the bar 9 and operable from the lower end of the'bar. To do this the bar 9 is preferably tubular and carries in its in terior a shaft 15 which is also preferably of insulating material such as wood. This shaftis constructed to shift longitudinally in and also rotate in the bar 9. The upper end of the shaft has a cap 16 for interlocking with and actuating the screw 6. This cap may be of metal formed with a cross slot 17 for engaging the set screw, 6, which by the way, is located on the under side of the clamp and has a wing-head to engage the slot. The lower end of the shaft 15 preferably carries a small hand wheel 17 which enables the cap 16 to be raised to engage the screw and then rotated to secure the clamp to the wire. After the clamp is secured the shaft 15 may be pulled down to disengage its cap from the screw, and the head can then be moved laterally to disengage it from the jaws 10 and 11. For convenience the spring jaws 11 may be attached to the rigid jaws 14.

In order to facilitate the attaching of the clamp 1 to the wire 5, it is desirable to pro-- vide a single clamping screw 6, but on this account it is desirable to provide the movable jaw 7 a with means for guiding it on its corresponding fixed jaw 7. For this purpose the ends of the jaw 7 are preferably provided with notches 19, and the ends of theclamping plate 7 are preferably provided with downwardly bent extensions 20 which lie in these notches. And in order to prevent the clamping plate 7 from becoming dislodged from the notches, I prefer to provide the lower ends of the extensions 20 with laterally projectlng fingers 21, which will engage the under sides of the jaw 7 at its ends and retain the plate in the clamp. The

plate 7* is preferably of resilient material so that the extensions 20 can be sprung outthe many embodiments the invention may take, and I do not wish to be limited in the practice of my invention to the particular embodiment set forth.

What I claim is 1. A linemansdevice for making a connection to a high potential live line wire consisting of a clamp having means for securing a .tap wire thereto, said clamp further having a pair of elongated oppositely dis posed jaws disposed one above the other with a channel extending longitudinally between said jaws constructed to receive the line wire in a position'extending longitudinally in said channel between said jaws when the clamp is moved laterally onto the wire, the outer sides of said jaws being substantially flat and parallel with each other.

to enable the clamp to be held yieldingly in a holding device engaging the said outer sides of said jaws, the lower one of the saidv jaws having screw means attached thereto for securing the line Wire in said channel,

said screw means havinga form to detachably interlock a screw-rotating device.

2. In a linemans device, the combination of ,a clamp having means for securing a tap wire thereto, and having a pair of oppositely disposed jaws to receive the line wire there between, a holder for the clamp having a head, said head and said clamp being of correlated form to co'ciperate in enabling said head to temporarily hold said clamp in applying the same -to the line wire, said clamp having securing means, and said holder having insulated actuating means for interlocking said securing means to actuate the same from a point remote from said head to secure the clamp to the line .Wire.

3. A linemans device for making connection to a high potential live line wire, consisting of a clamp having a bore to receivea tap wire, and having means for securing the tap wire in said bore, said'clamp being open on its side to enable it to be applied by a lateral movement to the line wire, and having a fixed jaw to engage the line wire on one side, said clamp further having a clamping jaw guided on said clamp, anda clamp= ing screw mounted in the under side of said clamp having a wing-head below to interlock with aslot in an actuating part and engaging at its upper end with said movable jaw to clamp the same against the line. w1re.

4. A holding device for permanently con- -'necting a tap wire to a high potential live line wire, consisting of an insulating handle, a head carried thereby having means for detachably holding a clamp which is to be attached to the wire, and means mounted on said handle for securing the clamp to the live wire before disengaging the holding device from said clamp. I

5. A holding device for permanently connecting a tap-wire to a hlgh potential live line wire, consisting of an insulating bar, a

head carried thereby having means for yieldingly and detachably holding a clamp which'is to be attached to the line wire, and

wire.

the head to apply the clamp to the line wire, and means movably carried by said bar for engaging a clamping screw on the under side ofthe clamp to attach the clamp to the 7. A device for attaching a clamp to a high potential live line wire consisting of a head having jaws for yieldingly holding the clamp, rigid means for protecting said jaws, a tubular bar for supporting and raising the clamp and a shaft rotatably mounted in said bar for engaging and operating a movable part of the clamp to. attach the same to the line wire.

8. A device for attaching a clamp to'a high potential live line wire consisting of a head having laterally projecting jaws for yieldingly holding the clamp, a tubular bar for insulatingly supporting and raising the head, and a shaft longitudinally shiftable and rotatable in said bar for engaging the clamping screw of the clamp to secure the same to the line wire.

Signed at San Diego in the county of San Diego and State of California this 5th day of April 1916.

VAN B.. JACKSON. 

